A simple one-pot recipe for cowboy beans. Oven-cooked in one dish, this is a real fuss-free family dinner.

I needed a name for this savoury bake recipe. It's basically beans and sausages so it had to be cowboy beans.

I have no particular knowledge about cowboys and what they eat apart from the black and white cowboy films with John Wayne I watched with my dad as a child.

Did they eat cowboy beans? Maybe! They certainly seemed to cook bean dishes in a pot over their fire.

So I'm calling these cowboy beans and on doing some research I realised I was pretty spot on, although my bean pot was going to include potatoes and as it is wet and windy outside I definitely wasn't going to be cooking them outside over an open fire.

A simple weeknight recipe for spinach and cream cheese stuffed pasta shells. Quick and easy to prepare with a few ingredients.

Let me start by saying my son Cooper gave this a score of 9/10. Get in!

It all began when Crock-Pot asked me if I could come up with an easy weeknight meal in a crockpot that wasn't a soup or a stew.

I'd been thinking about a recipe I made years ago. A vegetarian Conchiglioni Al Forno, which is a stuffed pasta recipe. I've been thinking about trying it again for a while but making a vegan version, so when Crock-Pot challenged me I knew just what to make.

Vegan Spinach & Cream Cheese Stuffed Pasta Shells

Easy Pasta Bake

This is a super easy pasta bake.

The pasta shells don't need to be cooked before being added to this bake. They are giant pasta shells so you might think they would need to be cooked for a few minutes to soften them, but no. Straight in.

The filling is a mixture of vegan cream cheese (we like Violife original creamy), spinach, vegan parmesan (Violife again) and seasoning.

The sauce is simple too. It's basically some pimped up passata.

I wouldn't use passata straight out of a carton or jar, as it can be bitter.

The pasta is filled, lies on a bed of sauce and then topped with more sauce, grated vegan mozzarella and vegan parmesan.

If you are choosing a vegan mozzarella, choose one that is coconut based. They are much nicer and they melt beautifully.

Crock-Pot 5.6l Digital Slow and Multi Cooker

Crock-Pot kindly sent me one of their new digital slow cookers to try. My current crockpot is great but it only has the simple settings of high and low, while this one has a digital panel and five different cooking options.

Slow Cook - of course it's main and standard function is to slow cook and you can still do this at low or high and adjust your time to suit your recipe.

Saute/Brown - you can also start of a soup, stew or any other dish really by sautéeing your onions and garlic as you would usually do on the cooker top, if you were cooking in a pot.

Roast - you can roast your veggies in this too. Just select the roast programme, let it heat and then add oil and your veggies and you're good to go. You can cook roast potatoes and wedges this way too, so great at Christmas when there's not enough room in the oven for everything.

Steam - to steam food, just add some water to the bowl and use the rack to place the food you would like to steam and use the steam function.

Bake - you can bake cakes and puddings in this crockpot too. Happy days! For some sweet recipes check out my friend Lucy's blog BakingQueen74. She cooks nearly everything in her slow cooker, including so many droolworthy cakes.

This slow cooker and multicooker is perfect for easy family meals. Just do some simple prep, pop it on and get on with your day. Then at dinner time, there's no work to do. Dinner is hot and ready to serve.

It's easy to clean too as the rectangular bowl can go in the dishwasher and the rest is easy wiped.

Vegan Spinach & Cream Cheese Stuffed Pasta Shells

A simple recipe for a stuffed pasta recipe made in a slow cooker. The perfect midweek meal for vegans or vegetarians.

prep time: 15 minscook time: 3 hourtotal time: 3 hours and 15 mins

ingredients

800g passata (sieved tomatoes)

5-6 tbsp tomato puree

2 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp salt

a good grinding of black pepper

15-20 dried giant pasta shells

400g vegan cream cheese (for a vegetarian version use ricotta cheese)

100g spinach

6 tbsp finely grated vegan parmesan

grated vegan mozzarella

instructions

Wilt spinach in a colander, Place it in the sink and pour a kettle full of boiling water over the spinach, then pour over cold water and squeeze as much water out as possible then dry off with kitchen paper and chop.

In a bowl mix together the passata, the tomato puree, oregano, salt and pepper.

In another bowl mix the cream cheese with the spinach and parmesan.

Fill the pasta with the cream cheese mix.

Spread the bottom of the slow cooker bowl with some tomato sauce, then place the filled pasta in a single layer across the sauce, then top with more sauce. You can do this in one or two layers of pasta depending on the size of your bowl. Just top each layer with sauce.

A simple recipe for vegan pumpkin spice cookies with a free printable recipe. If you don't have the individual spices you can use pre-mixed pumpkin spice or mixed spice.

The season is changing and we're moving into Autumn (or Fall if you're elsewhere in the world). It's getting cooler, so we're wearing cosier clothes and layers. Here in Scotland, a coat and umbrella are essential when you head outdoors. It's rather wet and windy here right now. So much rain!

Meals are changing too. Soups and other comfort dishes like shepherd's pie and chilli are back on the menu in place of salads and outdoor BBQs.

I'm also noticing a change in the recipes appearing on Pinterest (yes I spend way to much time browsing over there) and pumpkin spice is appearing everywhere. From lattes to cookies and cakes.

Ten of the best vegan pasta recipes with tips for making the prefect pasta every time.

Everyone loves a hearty bowl of pasta, but it's the sauce that makes it, from a light dressing to pesto and rich flavourful sauces.

Today I'm sharing my top 10 best ever pasta sauces as enjoyed by my family and friends. These are the recipes I return to again and again. I am pleased to share them with you and your family.

All ten recipes are vegan, although one of the recipes gives ingredient options for both vegetarian and vegan as they are easy swaps.

I hope you enjoy them and try one or two of these recipes.but before I share the recipes I'd like to share my top pasta tips with you.

Top 10 pasta tips and tricks

Choose the right shape of pasta for your sauce. There are some great pasta guides online.

Always use a large pot to cook pasta and fill it deep with boiling water, the pasta needs room to move. If the pot is too small or there isn't enough water your pasta will stick together and cook unevenly.

Always salt your water.

Don't add oil to your water, it doesn't need it and you'll just be left with an oily mess. If your pot is big enough, you have plenty of rapidly boiling water and give the pasta a stir, it won't stick.

As soon as you lower your pasta into the rapidly boiling water give it a good stir, to prevent it sticking and give a stir regularly as it cooks.

Check the time suggested for cooking on the packet and test the pasta before the time suggested is up. You want your pasta to be al dente, which is cooked but still firm. Overcooked pasta is just nasty.

Scoop out a cup of the pasta water before draining the pasta to add to your sauce. It will make your sauce silky. You don't need to use it all, just add a little at a time.

Drain it quickly, don't leave it sitting about or it will dry out and stick together. Give it a quick shake to remove the water then toss through the sauce.

Make sure your table is set and the sauce is ready once the pasta has been tossed in the saucem it should be served right away.

If you are making pasta salad, cook the pasta until al dente, then drain in the colander and cool under running cold water. This will stop the cooking and leave you with glossy firm pasta. If you don't run cold water over the pasta until it is cold, it will go stodgy, which is most unpleasant.

10 Best Ever Vegan Pasta Recipes

A rich bolognese sauce for pasta, filled with lots of veggies to help with your five-a-day and enriched with red wine. Make a big batch, eat some and freeze the rest for anther night or two. Serve over freshly cooked spaghetti.

A really tasty fresh tomato sauce with the aromatic flavour of fresh basil. Fabulous on pasta or served with a nut loaf. This is my go-to pasta sauce that I've been making for over 25 years now. Yes I am that old!

It's a fresh ready meal that can be heated in the microwave, but you could easily warm it up gently in a pot.

Kids Pasta or Calorie Counting

This tasty pasta is for kids, but it's pretty darn tasty and a nice wee portion if you're watching your weight at only 261 calories per portion.

Serve it with some green salad for a tasty quick dinner.

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A test to find the best way to cook corn on the BBQ. Wrapped in foil or straight on the grill. This post includes grilling tips and clean up recommendations.

Last of the Summer Dine

It's time to have those last few BBQs before the weather changes and dining indoors becomes the norm again.

Make the most of your garden or outdoor space and invite some family and friends around for a grilled feast with lots of salads and side dishes or just take your evening meal outdoors and keep it simple.

Burgers, bangers, kebabs and vegetables all taste great when cooked on the grill and let's face it, it's great fun.

A simple recipe for spicy homemade chitpotle ketchup with just a few basic ingredients including passata and chipotle paste.

I thought the summer was over but we're getting another wee burst of summer here in Scotland. What does that mean? Why that means there's still time for a few more BBQs and a lot more grilling before the season ends.

And what's great on burgers?

Ketchup!

Easy Homemade Chipotle Ketchup Recipe

Not any ketchup, no, a tasty homemade ketchup.

Today I'd like to share with you my easy homemade chipotle tomato ketchup.